A Brief Overview of the New Book, "Disciplining your mind 30 days to a better you!"

Some questions you may have before you purchase a copy of “Disciplining your mind 30 days to a better you!”

·         Why is “Disciplining your mind 30days to a better you!” a good investment?

·         Where can I purchase a copy?

·         Who would benefit from this book?

·         Are there any promotions or free offers?

Disciplining your mind 30 days to a better you is not like most books, it is a comprehensive approach to overcoming negative mind-sets written by a Christian counselor and using real life experiences to bring the “points home”. To get the most from this book it is important to read one chapter at a time applying what you have learned. Many people read through the book once, and then go back and “do the work” in each chapter.

Do you have trouble with negative thinking, depression, anxiety, defeat or discouragement? If so, “Disciplining your mind 30 days to a better you!” is for you! The author and counselor of this book will give you practical tools to help you not only understand why you think and/or feel the way that you do, but will also give you real help to identify and defeat the negative thinking that encompasses your life.

The author and counselor of “Disciplining your mind 30 days to a better you!” writes authentically and genuinely using practical examples from her own life experiences.

Changing ingrained thought patterns takes time, but it is a worthwhile investment of your time and energy. Readers of this book should reap the benefits almost immediately if what is taught throughout the book is applied.

Are you ready for a new you? Start today! Increase your peace, your joy, overall contentment, your energy, and health by disciplining your mind and thinking the thoughts that are life-giving.

►Where to order your copy of “Disciplining your mind 30 days to a better you!”  http://www.amazon.com/Stephanie-R.-Reck/e/B07885C5QM

You can order an eBook Kindle from Amazon for only $4.99, or if your “old school” like me you can still get the paperback for just a few dollars more.

→Who would benefit from “Disciplining your mind 30 days to a better   you!” Small groups at church, book clubs, individuals who want a better life and freedom from a negative mind-set, and as a resource for Christian counselors and other ministries to have on hand to give clients who need tools for living a disciplined thought life.

→Like Giving Back? All Book purchases for “Disciplining your mind 30 days to a better you!” go directly back into the ministry to help continue to give hope and encouragement to the body of Christ.

►Promotions and FREE OFFERS:

If you read “Disciplining your mind 30 days to a better you!” and it did help you, write a review for Amazon and you will qualify for (1) FREE Email counseling session with the author and counselor of this book.

In Email counseling you get to send your top (3) questions, concerns, and/or issues and a detailed response will be sent to the email that you give.

To qualify send an email to hopeandencouragment4women@gmail.com with a forward copy of your book review for Amazon with your email you want to be contacted for your Email counseling session.

Counselor's Corner: Contending For Your Destiny

You know that God has a plan for your life, but you have not been able to reach your full purpose yet? You must know how to contend for your destiny to fulfill what God has in store for you.

We all have been created with a purpose and to fulfill God’s destiny for us. When we walk in our destiny or our created purposes, the Kingdom of God gets advanced. Walking into our destiny usually comes with a battle from the kingdom of darkness.

How to contend for your destiny:

1.      First and most importantly, know what your created purpose is. Everyone has a purpose, and if you do not know yours take some time and ask the Lord to reveal to you why He created you. Write down your strengths, your weaknesses, prior jobs that you had and enjoyed, and your greatest struggles and triumphs. Listen to what other people say about you consistently such as, “you’re always such an encourager.” What are your spiritual gifts? God will take your talents, gifts, personality, experiences, and He will use your strengths for your created destiny. God will even use your trials, struggles, and heartache for good.

2.      Write down what you believe your destiny is. Speak daily your destiny over yourself. Even if you cannot perceive how and when your destiny will unfold, believe by faith that God has set you on the path to your purpose.

3.      Understand that there are no small opportunities to advancing to your destiny. Small opportunities lead to bigger opportunities. Do not get discouraged if you do not feel you are not fully walking in your destiny, every small step that you take can lead you to your destiny.

4.      Recognize that you will be tested repeatedly as to your faithfulness to your calling and especially to your loyalty and love to Jesus. This testing is extremely beneficial as you fully walk into your destiny. It is better to get tested now and develop spiritual maturity, perseverance, steadfastness, and an overcoming spirit than to abort your destiny because you cannot handle the pressure.

5.      Be aware that you will be refined until there is nothing in your character that could hinder fulfilling your destiny. Anything that needs to be purged out of your mind, soul or emotions that does not reflect the Glory of God-will be purged out! Nothing will be remaining in you that could be corrupt, immoral, or contentious to the things of God. Some people do not allow God to refine them because to be frank, it can be painful. If you do not allow God to take you through the tests and refinement before stepping into your destiny, you will take an enormous chance of hurting others because of your immaturity, backsliding into sin because you could not handle the pressures, or not finishing what you were called to do because you lack perseverance and steadfastness.

6.      You must let God heal and uproot emotional wounds. Invest in spending intimate time with the Lord daily as He ministers and heals your heart. Your broken heart must undergo the ‘heart surgery” from the great physician before you can fully enter into your destiny. Remember, hurting people hurt people. Don’t run from your pain but let God expose and mend all your broken areas, then you will be much more capable of ministering to others who are in need of repair. If your destiny does not involve directly working with others, still allow God to mend any broken areas so that you can be as productive as possible. You will still be taking small steps towards your destiny as God is mending your heart and emotions.

7.      Spiritual opposition will come to discourage, delay or completely stop you. If one day it feels like you have taken two steps back or what could go wrong does, regroup again and move forward. This is where you learn about persistence and perseverance. Battles are not won all at once but one victory after another.

8.      There are those sent into your life as destiny destroyers. They come into your life to hinder and weaken your calling, usually when you are about to move forward into your destiny. Recognize and be aware of who the enemy uses as destiny destroyers in your life. The greater the destiny, the greater the warfare will be. You must know how to employ the right spiritual warfare. We battle against not flesh and blood but against principalities and rulers of this dark world. You will need to become a spiritual warrior and know how to be victorious over the attacks the enemy sends to you to defeat, discourage and stop you.

9.      Don’t curse your destiny. Speak life and truth about your destiny not words like, “I am such a failure I can’t do that.”

10.  Do something everyday towards your destiny, but remember it is God who opens and closes doors that no man can. Just be determined to do your part and let God do His part.

11.  Face your “giants- “fear, worry, doubt. Overcome and subdue your giants with Christ until they become smaller than the God that is in you. You must not cower in fear to your giants but you need to learn to conqueror each one. You must believe that you are a weapon of war, trained by God to make the enemy a footstool until the return of Christ. You must understand your authority over the kingdom of darkness and take dominion over all that God has given you.

12.  Keep focused as distractions come to derail you from what you should be doing. Distractions can come in many forms, and some are sent from the enemy.

Your destiny unfolds overtime. Knowing God’s timing is crucial. There are times we will be tested, times of learning about spiritual warfare, times of strength training, times we learn about perseverance and persistence, and times we know we are to go forward.

What do you believe your God-given destiny is? Are you ready to contend for your destiny?

Loving and Accepting Others

Happy Valentine’s Day! This article is all about love, so enjoy!

Do you have trouble loving others who may be doing things that are unacceptable to you? Do you tend to judge or think thoughts like, “I would never behave like that?”

I never knew how to love others right where they were at. I wanted people to “get their acts together and turn from their sin immediately.” God has taught me it is not always as easy for people to give up their drug of choice, their sexually immoral lifestyle, or whatever sin they may be wrapped in.

BUT if we can get honest for a moment, we all have things in our lives that God is working on, the only difference is some sin you can see in the open and that’s the sin that is judged-open sin. Why? It’s right there in your face so you can theorize why people do what they do. However, is hidden sin or sin that you keep secret different? I should say not, but far too may Christians live one way in “church” and another way behind closed doors. As Christians if we want to be an example of Christ’s love, we need to stop judging where people are at in their lives.

So, what does accepting and loving others look like in a compromising culture?

1.      You never compromise with the sin, such as if a person has trouble with gambling you should not go to the casino with that person, or if your sibling who is unmarried wants to bring their boyfriend to an overnight visit, you should politely decline but have them over for dinner instead.

2.      Do not judge why someone does what they do. Judging means you place assumption over a person’s behavior and actions. Do you ever really know why a person does what they do? Unless you plan on developing intimate relationships and getting to know the why behind why others do what they do-don’t falsely pass wrong convictions.

3.      Never, ever shun someone (reject, belittle, talk down to) someone who lives and behaves differently than you, even the ones who you just cannot wrap your mind around why they behave the way that they do.

4.      Spend time with the person or people whom you would rather judge. Be the light to them. Be an influence for good. Speak words of edification, life, and encouragement over them. Build them up, not tear them down with your words.

5.      Don’t “preach”, give “scriptures”, or continually invite them to your church. There is a time and a place for this, but most people are “checking” you out at first and want to know they can trust you and that you are the “real deal.”

6.      Always find ways to point them to Jesus, preferably with your actions more than your words.

7.      Always believe God can touch and heal the person that is far away from God.

For many people that are away from God or doing repulsive things in the sight of God usually stems from a wound issue in their past, or issues with their father that have not been resolved. Be gentle, loving and always show the way to the Truth by your example of the Light.

Word of Encouragement Devotional: What Does God's Love Feel Like?

God’s love is not like any other love that you have or will experience from a person. God’s love is unconditional, that means you don’t have to do anything to experience His love. I know that is hard to believe since as humans we do not treat each other with this kind of love, but God is not like humans.

But can you actually feel God’s love?

 God’s love can be felt, not like a human feeling but through His relentless pursuit of an intimate relationship He desires with you. God not only wants to have a relationship with you, He wants you to know that He never gives up on you. People give up on you, they betray you, reject you, abuse you, and use you. God’s love never does anything to hurt you. I know that may seem hard to believe if you have experienced a lot of trouble and heartache in your life, but God always wants the best for you. God will never turn His back on you. Even if you turn your back on God, He will still come after you. You can shut God out of your life, and that will make things harder to experience Him, but He waits for you to say, “come back into my life.” When you invite God in, He comes running like a parent does when they hear their newborn baby crying.

Reflect:

Do you have trouble feeling God’s love? Why? Now ask God to lavish His love upon you today and then anticipate how God will love on you. Understand that God’s love is unconditional for His children, just like as a parent you never stop loving your children even when they do things that are not good. God, is a good, good Father. He desires to love you and for you to know His love. You don’t have to wait to get everything perfect in your life to experience God’s love, He wants to love you right where you are at.

Meditate:

But you O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness. Psalm 86:15

Word of Encouragement Devotional: What You Speak Now Will Afffect Your Future Later

Did you know what you speak now will affect your future later? Your words spoken presently will determine the course of your future. If you speak negatively over your circumstances today, then your tomorrow will be shaped by those words.

Even if you cannot visualize anything getting better in your life or your situations, don’t speak destructively about them, instead CHOOSE to speak God’s Word and faith-filled words.

Reflect:

Your current words that you speak into the atmosphere are like building blocks for greatness and success, or they can be building blocks for failure and destruction. When you speak “death” instead of life over your circumstances, you will eventually get what you are speaking out. CHOOSE carefully what you say about your life and the ones that you love, as you speak you are calling those things forth.

If you want a better future, start speaking now what lines up with God’s promises for you. Make sure not to “curse” or speak against what you are by faith speaking out. You can become frustrated if you don’t see immediate results of speaking faith over your circumstances, and can begin to complain, grumble and speak negatively over them-Don’t! Everything you are building with your words, you can tear down by speaking damaging word.

Meditate:

Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat of its fruit. Proverbs 18:21

Stop and think before you speak, your future depends upon it!

►Learning to speak positive, faith-filled words instead of the “reality” of the situation can be challenging. I have written a book to give you the practical tools to overcoming a negative mindset through disciplining your mind. Check out this valuable resource, “Disciplining your mind 30 days to a better you!”

http://www.amazon.com/Stephanie-R.-Reck/e/B07885C5QM